Statoil Picked to Operate Johan Sverdrup Field

Norway's Statoil will operate the giant Johan Sverdrup oil field in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea, Statoil said on Friday, in a decision fully expected by markets.

The Sverdrup field lies across several licences, which are operated by Statoil and Lund Petroleum. However, Lund has repeatedly said that Statoil should be the operator given its experience in running such a large project.

Sverdrup could hold up to 2.9 billion barrels of oil equivalents and full development could cost up to 220 billion crowns ($31.5 billion).

Other shareholders in Sverdrup include AFP. Moller-Maersk , Deft Norsk and state holding firm Petoro.